Investigating EFL Learners’ and Teachers’ Attitudes towards the Use of Authentic Texts in Teaching Writing
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Date
2019-06
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Abstract
Abstract
Authentic texts are important for the learning and teaching of second and foreign
languages as they provide rich native contextual input and bridge the gap between
student’s local educational environment and the target language environment with its
social, cultural and linguistic details. Despite their significant role in increasing learners’
motivation to improve their language skills and proficiency particularly in the area of
writing, authentic texts do not seem to be widely used at university. This fact raises many
questions concerning the attitudes teachers and learners have towards the use of authentic
texts in teaching and assessing writing. The present study is an attempt to unveil answers
about EFL learners’ and teachers’ attitudes towards using authentic texts in teaching and
assessing the writing skill. The study was conducted in the English department in M’sila
University with 42 students from third year level and 9 teachers of written expression
module from different levels. The research tools include quantitative and qualitative data
elicited from teachers and students’ questionnaires and classroom observation. After the
statistical analysis of the data gathered, the results revealed that both learners and teachers
do have positive attitudes towards using authentic texts in teaching and assessing writing
skill, which is a motivating finding to widen the implementation of such materials in
writing classes. Teachers, however, claim to use authentic texts more in assessing writing
than in teaching situations Based on the obtained findings, important implications are
proposed for teachers, students, and the teaching of English language and writing skill in
particular using authentic texts in order to raise awareness of the relevance of these
materials in the EFL teaching context
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Keywords
Keywords: Authentic texts, authentic assessment, teaching writing, assessing writing, EFL learners and teachers